LAURINBURG — Children as young as 12 years old have been cleared to take the COVID-19 vaccine, but it is unclear when Scotland County will be prepared to start distributing it.

“Scotland Health Care System has been supplied with Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines by the state of North Carolina,” said Chief Operating Officer for Scotland Health Care System David Pope. “The Pfizer vaccine (for children) is provided in shipments of many doses and requires special deep-freeze storage. We do not know if we will be supplied with the Pfizer vaccine yet and it is the only vaccine approved for those 12 through 15.”

According to Pope, the FDA is continuously reviewing results of testing on each available vaccine.

“This is done as an effort to ensure vaccines are available for all segments of the population,” said Pope.

“The FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine under their emergency use authorization requirements for children 12 to 15 on Monday,” added Pope. “The Pfizer vaccine was already approved for children aged 16 and older. The Moderna vaccine is approved for people aged 18 years and older.”

He said Scotland Memorial Hospital currently has eight in-patient COVID cases.

The Scotland County Health Department is also not yet prepared to distribute the Pfizer vaccine.

“At this time we have not been told when the vaccine will become available to us,” said Public Information Officer Kathie Cox. “We are still encouraging those who have not been vaccinated yet to do so and stay tuned for updates on when the Pfizer vaccine becomes available.”

According to Cox, Scotland County has seen a total of 3,817 COVID-19 cases since it began.

“Of those, 3,699 have recovered and we have seen 86 deaths,” said Cox. “We currently have 32 active cases within the county, nine of which are school-aged children.”

Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville is currently taking appointments for those over the age of 12 in need of the vaccine. Children 12 through 18 must be accompanied by an adult. For information or to schedule an appointment, visit https://www.capefearvalley.com/coronavirus/index.aspx.

UNC Health Southeastern in Lumberton is also offering the vaccine for those over the age of 12. Visit http://www.srmc.org/main/ to schedule an appointment.

JJ Melton can be reached at [email protected]. To support the Laurinburg Exchange, subscribe here: https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/subscribe.